Lost: Recon or Re-con?

By Dan Birlew | Posted March 17, 2010 in Television | 7 Comments »

Tonight we watched Sawyer confirm what I proposed a few weeks ago, that his agreement to join the Man in Black was really just a con. But after he lied to both the Man in Black and Widmore, we’re still left wondering if he’s even telling Kate the truth. After all, the episode’s title, “Recon” is short for Reconnaissance, which is what the Man in Black tasked Sawyer with. However, another way to think of the word is “Re-con,” which would mean “to con again.”

Furthermore, it’s going to be a little hard to describe what we’ve seen tonight because we’re dealing with two very different men. In the island’s universe he calls himself Sawyer, after the man who conned his parents and caused their deaths. But in the sideways universe he never took Anthony Cooper’s alias as his own, and therefore he’s still James Ford. So keep that in mind as we review what we saw tonight:

• Sawyer is at Claire’s hut in the jungle, burning himself while making some tea. He enters her “twig hut” and wakes Jin. Jin tries to get Sawyer to leave before Locke returns, but Sawyer says he’s with Locke. Sawyer gives Jin his word they won’t leave the island without Sun.
• The Man in Black as Locke returns with the “flocke,” including Sayid, Claire, and Kate plus what’s left of the Others. Kate and Sawyer say hello, but it’s hard to tell if he’s relieved to see her… or disappointed.
• In the sideways universe, James has just finished having sex with a woman in a hotel room. He awakens when the clock says 8:42. He tries to pull the same open-suitcase con on the woman that we’ve seen him previously pull on Cassidy and several others. The woman pulls a gun on James and says she’s married to a con man and knows better. He claims the hotel is surrounded by cops and all she has to do is take the case to wherever her hubby is. She doesn’t believe him, and so he mutters the codeword, “LaFleur.” The police burst in. Miles is one of them, he is James’s partner. In the sideways universe James isn’t a conman, he’s a cop.
• Claire is in her tent packing things, including a knife. She looks at her creepy dogskull doll. Kate enters and asks what is is, and Claire says it was all she had.
• The Man in Black calls everyone together outside. He says he will answer questions, but they need to get moving during daylight. Cindy asks what happened at the Temple and the Man in Black says “the Black Smoke killed them.” He reassures the little boy and little girl from the tail section, Zach and Emma. While everyone moves out, Sawyer checks with Kate to make sure Jack and Hurley are alright. Kate asks Sawyer if he’s with the Man in Black, and he says he’s not with anyone.
• In the sideways universe James is calling various Anthony Coopers, trying to find one from Alabama in 1976. Miles enters and asks what he’s doing. He insists James should be heading out for a date, then reveals that he fixed James up with a girl. James wants to refuse, so Miles asks if he wants to die alone. Sawyer says he needs to do something else that night instead. Not believing him, Miles encourages him to tell the truth, and Sawyer asks “Why would I lie?”
• Trekking through the jungle, the Man in Black encourages his flocke to refill their canteens and get ready to hold out for a few days. Sawyer immediately challenges the Man in Black because he made it seem they would get off the island sooner. The Man in Black takes Sawyer aside and admits that he is the “smoke-thing.” He claims he gave the people at the Temple the opportunity to leave, but they refused. It’s either kill or be killed, and the Man in Black doesn’t want to be killed.
• The Man in Black leads Sawyer to an outrigger on a beach and tells him to row over to Hydra Island and do some recon among the other passengers of Ajira Flight 316 to see if any of them are working with Ilana. When Sawyer wants to know why he gets to go alone, the Man in Black says it’s because Sawyer is the best liar he ever met.
• Sideways James Ford enters a restaurant. He calls Miles to see what his date looks like. Miles says she’s a redhead. James finds one at the bar. It is Charlotte Staples Lewis, and in the sideways universe she is still Miles’ friend. She tells him she’s exactly like Indiana Jones, and maybe she even has a whip. He tells her he became a cop because of Bullet, the Steve McQueen movie. She makes him tell the truth; He admits that at one point in his life he was either going to become a criminal or a cop, so he chose cop.
• Later in a hotel room James and Charlotte have sex. He goes to get water and she wants to borrow a T-shirt. He tells her to help herself and nods toward his bureau. On top of the bureau are several of the books we’ve seen Saywer read on the island, such as Watership Down. Searching in the t-shirt drawer, Charlotte pulls out a folder labeled “SAWYER.” Inside is the clip about James’ father killing his wife. Finding her with the folder, James yells at her to get out.
• Sawyer lands on Hydra Island. He finds the cages where he and Kate were kept, and her dress is still there. He holds it tenderly for a few minutes, as if in regret.
• At the Man in Black’s camp, Kate approaches Sayid. She asks him if he believes Locke. He responds like a zombie. She asks if he’s alright and he says no, he’s not alright. Claire tackles Kate and holds a knife to her neck. Sayid doesn’t intervene, but fortunately the Man in Black does. He slaps Claire and tells her to go away, he’ll deal with her in a minute. When the Man in Black asks Kate if she’s alright, she echoes Sayid’s words. She seems shocked and upset Claire attacked her.
• Sawyer finds the Ajira 316 plane on Hydra Island. He inspects it, and despite some damage it looks flyable. Tons of stuff is scattered on the beach. He finds a trail leading into the jungle, like something’s been dragged. Following the trail, he finds a body pile of all the people from the flight, dead. Hearing a noise behind him, he turns to see someone running. He chases the person and tackles her. She claims to be the only one left.
• In sideways universe Liam is asking about his brother, who we all know is Charlie Pace. He stops James on his way out and says his brother was stopped on a drug charge, as seen in the season opener (Charlie tried to swallow a baggie full of heroin on Flight 815). Sawyer pushes him away and says, “not my department.” Miles appears, looking pissed, telling James to follow him into the men’s locker room. At first James thinks it’s about Charlotte, but it’s not. Miles has figured out James went to Australia instead of Palm Spring, and wants to know why he lied. James refuses to say. Miles says he’s not James’ partner anymore. Jim smashes his own reflection in a mirror.
• Back on Hydra Island, Sawyer gives the woman water. She says her name is Zoe and she’s a 316 survivor. She says she was out collecting wood when she heard screaming. When she came back they were all dead. She dragged all their bodies out of the sun and into the body pile. Sawyer offers to take her back to the main island.
• At the flocke camp, Kate is crying to herself. The Man in Black approaches and apologizes, taking responsibility for Claire’s behavior. He explains that he had an enemy and knows it’s a powerful thing, so he gave Claire an enemy to hate by telling her the Others had her baby. Kate says it’s all very insightful coming from a dead man, to which he replies “Nobody’s perfect.” He apologizes again and says he’ll keep everyone safe, including Kate. She asks where he sent Sawyer and he offers his hand, to show her. But Kate gets up on her own.
• Sawyer and Zoe are walking on the beach. She asks questions about Sawyer’s group, especially whether they have guns. Sawyer asks her where their flight was going. She says her boyfriend was in Guam, which makes Sawyer draw on her. She whistles, and a bunch of men emerge from the bushes with rifles aimed at Sawyer. (Ironic, since in the sideways universe he summoned a squad of cops just by saying one word.) He surrenders his weapon and says, “Take me to your leader.”
• Kate sits with the Man in Black on the beach where the outrigger launched from. He tells Kate he sent Sawyer over to the other island. When she wonders why he brought her here instead of just telling her that, the Man in Black says bringing her was an excuse to talk to her. He says he knows what Kate’s going through because his own mother was crazy. Because she was a disturbed woman, he had some “growing pains.” Tearful, he tells Kate his problems could have been avoided if things where different. He says that now Aaron has a crazy mother too.
• Zoe’s group is leading Sawyer into a camp where other people are erecting a sonar fence similar to the one surrounding the Dharma barracks. They lead Sawyer to a dock, where Widmore’s sub is parked. They open the hatch and tell him to get inside.
• In sideways universe James goes home and eats a microwave meal. He watches Little House on the Prarie alone (In the island universe Sawyer previously admitted to watching this show). Onscreen, Michael Landon is telling Melissa Gilbert that she can’t spend her entire life worrying about death, and that the people they miss aren’t gone forever.
• A short while later James knocks on Charlotte’s door and offers her a sunflower and some beer. (More irony, since he brought Juliet a sunflower last season.) She tells him he blew his chance with her. He leaves the sunflower at her door.
• Inside the sub, Zoe leads Sawyer toward Widmore’s room. Along the way, he notices a padlocked room and asks what’s in there. Zoe makes him keep moving. Widmore introduces himself to Sawyer, who knows that he’s the one who sent the freighter to the island. Sawyer thinks Widmore killed the Ajira Flight 316 passengers, but Widmore says he didn’t. Sawyer admits to Widmore that Locke sent him. Widmore says it’s not Locke, and Sawyer promises he’ll bring Locke to Widmore so he can kill him. In exchange he must get Sawyer and the rest off the island. They shake in agreement.
• Kate comes upon Claire in the jungle. Claire apologizes for attacking her. She thanks Kate for taking care of Aaron. They hug.
• Sawyer returns to the main island. The Man in Black runs out to greet him. Sawyer knows the Man in Black didn’t really send him over there to find passengers from the Ajira plane, and tells him they’re all dead. The Man in Black expresses dim shock. Sawyer tells the Man in Black all about Widmore, including how he offered to bring Locke to Widmore. The Man in Black thanks him for his loyalty.
• In the sideways universe, James is waiting outside the police station for Miles. He makes him get in the car and hands him the Sawyer file. James explains that a man named Sawyer killed his parents, and he’s been hunting him. That’s why he went to Australia, where he got the name Anthony Cooper. He tells Miles when he finds the right Cooper, he’s going to kill him. Miles wants to talk him out of it. Just then a car crashes into them. The suspect jumps out and runs. Sawyer and Miles pursue and tackle her. It’s Kate. He recognizes her from the airport.
• Sawyer approches Kate at the campfire. “What’s for dinner?” he asks. She replies, “Rabbit, I think.” She asks why he’s running errands for Locke, and he tells her about Widmore on the other island. He plans to let Widmore and the Man in Black fight it out, and while they’re fighting he and Kate are getting off the island in the sub.

Discussion after the jump >>

Tags: Lost

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